Automated Insights’ Wordsmith software now works with spreadsheets

Automated Insights is expanding its patented software that automatically generates narrative content into the realm of spreadsheets.

The Durham-based company, which has more than 50 employees, announced Tuesday that the new extensions of its flagship Wordsmith software, which work in conjunction with Microsoft Excel and Google Sheets available, are now available for free during the new products’ beta test.

With the ExplainIt feature in the new Wordsmith for Excel and Wordsmith for Sheets, users can automatically create narratives that describe the data contained in charts and graphs to make them easier to understand.

Users “can now describe charts with the click of a button,” said Locky Stewart, senior solutions architect.

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The ExplainIt feature will be available for free “in perpetuity,” said Dan Dillon, director of marketing.

In addition, users employing a template customized to the type of data they use regularly can create narratives for complex tables of data. Multiple users can use the template created by a single in-house data expert.

In order to use those customized templates, users must be Wordsmith customers. However, Wordsmith is available for free on a trial basis for those who want to take the new spreadsheet options out for a spin.

The ExplainIt feature and Wordsmith for Excel and Wordsmith for Sheets can be accessed at automatedinsights.com.

More than 200 customers, including Allstate, Edmunds.com and Yahoo!, use Wordsmith to generate narrative content. The Associated Press uses Wordsmith to create thousands of corporate earnings reports each quarter.

Founded in 2007, Automated Insights was acquired last year by Vista Equity Partners and is now a subsidiary of STATS, a sports data company.

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